Israel threatens 'harsh response' amid violent attacks

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to deliver a harsh response on "Palestinian terrorism" amid a wave of violent attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.Netanyahu met with Israeli security officials to

IANS [ Updated: October 05, 2015 7:49 IST ]

israel threatens harsh response amid violent attacks

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to deliver a harsh response on "Palestinian terrorism" amid a wave of violent attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Netanyahu met with Israeli security officials to discuss the escalating situation, after four Israelis died and three wounded in Palestinian attacks in the past several days, Xinhua news agency reported.

Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he has instructed to expedite the demolition of Palestinian terrorists' houses, step up administrative detentions, deploy more forces in Jerusalem and in the West Bank to expel "instigators" from Jerusalem's Old City and the flashpoint site of Temple Mount.

"We are in all-out war against terrorism and we will wage it aggressively," Netanyahu wrote on his official Facebook page, adding Israeli authorities will deliver a "harsh response" to Palestinian terrorism.

Netanyahu will convene a special security cabinet meeting on Monday with a forum of his top ministers, to discuss what further steps shall be taken amid the recent security escalation, which some fear may signal the start of a third Palestinian intifada (armed uprising).

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli police announced it would limit the entry of Palestinians to the Old City of Jerusalem, home to the Temple Mount site among others for the next two days, in an unprecedented move decried by Palestinians.

On Thursday, an Israeli couple in their 30s,were killed while travelling with their four children on a West Bank road in a shooting attack by a Palestinian militant.

Two Israelis, were stabbed to death by a 19-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank on Saturday in Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli police forces shot dead the perpetrator.

Later that night, an Israeli was stabbed and moderately wounded by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem. The perpetrator was also killed by the Israeli police, and his father and his brother were arrested overnight. The Palestinians charge Fadi Alon, the Palestinian perpetrator, did not conduct the stabbing and was shot without reason.

Netanyahu and right-wing ministers of his government accuse the Palestinian Authority officials, namely President Mahmoud Abbas, for incitement which had triggered the latest waves of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Netanyahu also accused Abbas of failing to condemn the recent attacks that claimed the lives of four Israelis.